It's a little too early for a drink... so give me a coffee. I am still at work for another 4 hours. I'll have a Scotch or two after work, while i am working on my mill and before lawn bowling. Then I'll drop in later for a couple of cold ones. It is quite warm here today. Talk to you guys later. In the mean time have one on me.
GUB
Evening everyone. I'll have a quick Scotch before going to the Funeral Home.
Evenging all, Joe set us all up with cold drinks, Make mine a Bud tall boy.
Gub,,, The funeral home???
Is it ever hot and humid here this week, I do believe I have been dragging out my own tracks with my a**. The weather man last weekend said you would feel the humidity this week, and he was right.
I have been working some on the new room for the train, did some drywall yesterday and today I brought home some crates that combine parts came in, they are about 16 foot long and have 9 1''X4''s in them and there are three of them. I figure they will make a good start at the benchwork. Guess I better go see what I can do in the trainroom. Later, Mike
Mike;
A friend's mom passed away this past Sunday morning.
Sorry to hear that, GUB. I hope it was a life well lived. In the end, that's what really matters.
Today I checked out the turntable with the pit wall in place. I tried it yesterday, but found the wall was just a shade too close to the bridge, and I had a "conflict" at one point. I re-glued it, and today I was able to move locos on to the bridge, rotate it 180 degrees and move them off again. The roundhouse is still getting its detailing done. I've got to put some more rock wall castings on the base for a foundation. The lights are all in, so I can wire them up when I move it all to the layout.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Indeed it was a life well lived. She was 85 years old and had been married for 55 years and she had her health up to the last.
We should all hope to be that lucky.
Set up the bar, Joe. A round or two for the house on my tab tonight, please.
GUB: Yes, we should all be so lucky! We need to count those ludky stars...As often as possible!
Just got back from a great vacation / family rendezvous out in CO. It was certainly a bit of a jaunt (almost 1350 miles one way) but we really had a good time seeing family, fishing, hiking, a little work on the cabin, seeing a lot of wildlife and over all fun!
I'll do a few pictures, when I can take the time to get them out of the camera, into the computer and then to PhotoBucket, and then out to you!!!
I'll give a run down on riding the Cumbres & Toltec too. Now, that was a total blast.
I'm thinking that it will be a bit before I can get back to the Trainroom, with catching up with being gone for better than a week. The yard and (mostly) the garden are calling for some MAJOR attention! But sooner or later, I'll get back into the Trainroom and PLAY for a while.
Mike: Good to hear that you are getting started in the upstairs Trainroom! And hey, those combine "parts crates" sound as though they were custom made for "Trainroom" salvage and benchwork.
Gotta' get for now...I'm turning into a pumpkin!! It's been a LONG day.
Coffee, bacon and eggs this fine morning - low 60's in Massachusetts on the drive to work, should be around 80, and not too sticky today.
JB, I was thinking about you last night. Our summer swim-and-tennis club has opened, and the coach ran the swim team through a mock meet. The first real dual meet is Saturday, but he wanted to see how the kids performed to get a better idea of how to set the roster. For the new members, I think it was good idea to give them a feel for the process before they have to jump off the blocks for real. He had timers and everything.
I've spent most of my train time on the roundhouse this week. It's an Atlas 3-holer, and it's the first kit I built after becoming a born-again Model Railroader. It's not what you'd call a "craftsman kit," but it's still nicely detailed. I spent about a month on it when I first painted and assembled it, but now, with two more years of model-building under my belt, I wasn't satisfied with the look of it. So, I re-mortared the exterior brickwork and weathered the walls, which really improved its look. The brick color of the original model was just too bright and orange for my taste. After that, I installed lighting and cast some rock walls to use as a foundation. I glued the last of the foundation segments on last night, and did some under-layout work to bring power over to the roundhouse. Tonight, if there are no interruptions, I'll bring the roundhouse up and try it in place.
Morning, Joe. Toast and coffee, please.
Mister B, low 80's and not too sticky described my layout space at sunrise this morning. It's already (0930) past 90 on its way into the triple digits. The sun is so strong that, if you drop a bunch of grapes, they'll be raisins by the time you get them picked up!
JB, sounds as if you got in more railfanning in CO than I did on my trip to TN. Gotta love the Cumbres and Toltec!
Mister B, I'm looking forward to seeing your roundhouse in place. Your photos are an inspiration.
As I was finishing up in the trainroom this morning I made an interesting observation. My curves, spiral easements and grade transitions are all on plywood subgrade, but every millimeter of tangent single track is inside steel stud material laid closed side down. Of course, this is all meant to be hidden track (and I've put fences along the edges of that plywood subgrade.) Today's work involved extending roadbed - another five meters, but deeper into the netherworld. Problem is, I'm building a layer cake, and the bottom layer (staging yards and hidden thoroughfares) has to go in before the next layer can go on. Hence, I have to complete the Nonomura zone trackage before I can put Satsuki (EMU staging) on top of it, and Satsuki will have to be in and fully proved before I cover it with the (visible) Nishikawa area. Don't hold your breath waiting for the driving of the golden spike!
Well, the Boss wants to mount a shopping expedition. See you later.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I'll take one of those beers, Joe. How about an Ipswitch Pale Ale today? Thanks.
It's Installation Day for the roundhouse. I wired up the lighting and the spur tracks, lined the rails up with the turntable and started to move engines indoors. It's got to come off one more time so I can Gypsolite the surrounding pink territory, and there will have to be some terraforming to match the wall edges to the scenery.
Here, Number 56 pulls out of the roundhouse and on to the turntable bridge. Once I get the nearby scenery done, I think I'll do a video of this scene. With all the chuffs and the bell clanging, it's pretty neat.
Chuck, I know exactly what you mean by building a layer cake. My subways were the same way, and I had to ballast and scenick them completely, too, before I could lay track on top. Sure glad I only did a small loop of subway tracks. How much clearance do you have between the hidden track and the surface layer above?
Mr. B
Nice work. I'll have a Scotch. Haven't got a whole lot of time. Have to go Lawn Bowling tonight.
I started a new diorama. The Bench framing is done - 30" x 60". I have decided to put the buildings together before actually doing the actual benchwork. The plan is to have a multiple building Mill. Perhaps a woodworking facility. Go figure, that's what I do all day long and have been doing for the past 27 years. I am using Walther's modulars. Has anyone here worked with them? If you have I would like to here your thoughts - good and bad.
Oops here the wife calling. Gotta go. I'll try to check in back later before the after bowling festivities begin.
See Ya!
Howdy, Joe. Cold Asahi, please. And top up anyone who wants it.
GUB, didn't mean to ignore you last time I was in, but funerals and visitations always depress me.
As for your module, we're all told to model the familiar - and you can't get much more familiar than the site of the work that supports the hobby. (Just think. This is your chance to design and build an IDEAL woodworking plant!)
What always causes me to cringe is a sign saying that (fillintheblank) is being manufactured or processed in a building that is either too small or entirely unsuited to the alleged purpose. In most of those cases, the modeler doesn't have the first clue about the product or how it's made.
Mister Beasley, I've designed my layer cake for ease of access and maintenance. The staging yard I've already finished will have easy 'in from the side' access, both throat and body tracks. Also, the throat (turnouts and electricals) is built as a removable unit - unplug one cable, loosen four nuts, raise it 1/2 inch and it can be taken out sideways if it needs modification or serious maintenance. The other staging yard, now under construction, will have a throat that can drop down as a unit and is also reach-in accessible. Plans call for a removable chunk of mountain over the next layer of hidden tracks that cross (but don't cover) that yard's body tracks. The second worst clearance will be over the passenger staging yard (which will be directly under the Tomikawa division point.) I'll probably rig the whole thing to drop about a foot (John Armstrong 'dehydrated canal lock') in case of disaster. The absolute worst has minimum clearance over two thoroughfare tracks and a switching lead, tangent entered by curves with ample spiral easements, with the next level up having substandard clearance under still another level (of visible track-finally!) That mezannine level will have several turnouts, but I can make the scenery above a lift-out. As for track cleaning, when, as and if, I can fit my wedge plow with a slider pad and run it, along with two 'heritage' (US design, club herald) box cars similarly equipped, doubleheaded by two locos that don't quite synchronize under DC power. Of course, with track that was "gleamed" when first laid, that shouldn't be necessary very often.
Oops! Just heard dinner call. Sukiyaki tonight! Gotta go!
Joe, Pinot Grigio for me tonight, but a round for the faithful of whatever. I hate to mix, and the lobster was $7.99 a pound at the supermarket, so it was white wine, lobster and a plate of steamers this evening. Gotta work on my recipe for grilled swordfish chowder...
Yeah, Chuck, I know what you mean about funerals. Some of us just don't deal with that stuff well. Even the Hallmark cards spook me out. As an engineer, I just can't help thinking about what we could have done better. Sooner or later, we'll all be theoretically immortal, which will present different social problems, but us engineers will have done our jobs.
JB, we had our first swim meet of the summer today. Annie got a second in the U-17 backstroke, and her free relay team took third. The team won the dual meet, in an close match. For the uninitiated, there are 2 swimming seasons. "Serious" swimming is a winter sport, done indoors, while the more "recreational" competition is a club sport, done in the summer. My Annie's winter sport is skiing, but she's still an active participant at our summer swim-and-tennis club when the sun is high in the sky. I'm one of the race timers. There are 3 timers per lane, and the middle time of the 3 is the "official" time for that swimmer. After being the "official" one for about four in a row, one of the other timers said, "You're our anchor." "Yeah," I replied. "I swim like an anchor, too."
After the race, poor Annie crashed on the couch in the family room / train room all afternoon. I respected her snooze privacy, and got almost nothing done on the layout. Oh, well, as far as model railroading goes, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon...
Good evening...I'll have a tall cold one please, and I'll return the favor and get the next round.
Mr. Beasley...It's great that you can get that official time...We really need folks that can be trusted! And, hey...An official time, is an official time. I don't know about an anchor, but "you the man" for sure! We're not swimming this summer, but have been into dance thus far with the girls and parents working with / observing potential ballet instructors and an upcoming summer program starting next month. This is of course on top of the Showboat rehearsals!!!
I spent the morning loading some pictures and working in the garden. Then when it got REALLY hot (90 with humidity) I worked in the library getting the paneling back up on the ceiling. I sure hope to get to the Trainroom tomorrow (it's cool in there) and finish up some details on the service track at Sawbill Jct.
And sooo...As promised, here a re a few pictures of the vacation. Yes, I did get a goodly dose of railfaning in with the ride on the Cumbres & Toltec...And would highly recommend this trip to anyone, not only interested in riding behind steam, but also for a great sample of high planes and mountain scenery!! It was a total blast.
Here are a few pretty good shots of the train....And some spectacular scenery along the line too.
And some additional scenery from the deck of the cabin (Also pretty spectacular) first looking East....I'm told Kansas is out there!
Then looking North: West Spanish Peak.
East Spanish Peak.
The Twin Peaks (East and West) from the North, on the road through the canyon, up the mountain, to the cabin.
Morning all, Joe, I'll have the fried eggs with toast and sausage gravey with my coffee black. Thanks.
Not much new here but it is still rainy, had over7 inches last week. On Thursday the creek by my house got out of banks so I had to stay home from work, was just terable LOL
I went to Lawton yestewrday and got a new SF loco and a SF caboose, now I can run a shorter train on a continuous loop. I still need to do the weathering but that will come in time. I am still working on the new trainroom when I have time, Got some sheet rock and some mud yesterday so maybe I can get the walls finished and painted this week. I have several odd ball pieces of wood paneling I have taken off the walls, anybody know of a good use for it?
Colvin, I like the pics, wish I could model and make it look like that LOL.
Mister B. good looking turntable! How long have you been working on ot now?
I guess I will go and eat my breakfast while it is still hot. Talk with you all later. Mike
JB, I am so-oo-oo jealous. What a trip! Great pictures, too. How long was the ride?
Mike, you got a day off because of a little high water? I am so-oo-oo jealous.
I took a look at the first photo in my Pit-Bash series, and it was dated December 23rd, 2006, so I've been working on it for 6 months. It's hasn't been nothing-but-turntable for that time by any means. In fact, it looks like I worked like a beaver for that week between Christmas and New Years, and then the whole thing gathered dust while I went on to other things. Actually, I spent that time thinking about how to proceed, when I found out that the pedestal mount for the bridge wasn't going to be stiff enough, and the pit bogies were going to have to actually work and bear part of the load. I started working on this thing again about a month ago.
A round for the house Joe!
It may be a bit early for alcohol, but hey I need to celebrate with my getting to the Trainroom for a while on Sunday!! I actually finished up the oil tank, pump house and the water and oil columns, so now the service at Sawbill is complete, except for more scenicing and detailing!SOOO...with that....I'll have a Bloody Mary with hash and eggs, and put what ever anybody else needs on my tab Joe!
Mike: I wish I could put together better dioramas....Making them look like the pictures! But then, even the pictures don't compare to the real "mental pictures" a person takes. The picture from the camera seldom does justice to what the eye really saw.
And speaking of pictures: One photo opportunity that I missed on the way home was on Route 96 West, just on the outskirts of Pueblo . As I'm cursing along (about 45 MPH) with substantial traffic about me, all of a sudden I see the Beer-Barn! That's right, the Beer-Barn. Right there along the street / highway for everybody to see!! It was a genuine barn style (gambrel roof) building of red and white steel...And it was plastered with beer advertising! It was all I could think about for miles, debating with myself that I should have turned around, I should have taken a picture! You'll just have to visualize it and try to understand my excitement.
On the other hand, I'll share a couple more taken on the C&T. North bound from Osier, #487. I have a picture of our train too, #484, but it's a black blob...Something went wrong! They are sisters, however, both being K-36 types built in 1925, but # 484 does not have a snowplow pilot.
And another picture of South bound # 487 from across the draw looking toward Osier. Osier is just a station stop (a really great dinner stop provided with the trip at this point), but it once was a small community with a store, rooming house, railroad section house, depot, coal loading dock, a covered turntable and cattle pens.
And then, just after leaving Osier heading back to the South again was Cascade Trestle. This is the highest bridge on the C&T, replacing a wood structure with a steel structure in 1889. It stands 137 ft. above Cascade Creek.
Again, I have to sing the praises of the Cumbres & Toltec. It really was a great ride with spectacular scenery and wonderful, wonderful people. I hope to go back again, doing the ride both directions with an over night in Chama. I didn't have the time to do so, having to catch a bus back to Antonito only 10 minutes after arriving at Chama, but I'm told that you can just wander around the yard and shops to your hearts content there. Now that would be a real extra for me! As for the train trip: The C & T is coined as the highest and longest narrow gauge in the states. The trackage is part of the San Juan Extension of the Denver & Rio Grande Western. This "saved" portion runs from Antonito CO, South to Chama NM. The line covers 64 miles crossing Cumbres Pass (10,015 ft.) and Toltec Gorge (600 ft. above the Rio de Los Pimos River) over high bridges and through two tunnels. The scenery runs the gamete from high arid planes, to typical Rocky Mountains, to typical high mountain tundra.
I just love those pictures. Maybe we'll do a western road trip some time. Keep 'em coming...
Keep the coffee coming, too, Joe. How about a jelly donut? Sugar coated, with raspberry jelly inside. I don't do that often, so I can commit donut-sin once in a while.
I'm glad this didn't happen, but consider the possibilities: Some time ago, I went to a scenery clinic at a train shop. There was a small charge, but for our money we got some samples of various scenic materials - hydrocal, turf, etc. Each was conveniently packaged for us in a plastic sandwich bag, labelled with the product identification, manufacturer and part number so we could buy more when the time came. Well, I finally used up the green WS turf, and I put the almost empty bag into my car to make sure I got the same color when I went to my LHS for more.
I got to thinking. What would happen if I'd gotten pulled over for a "routine traffic stop?" There's a baggie with remnants of some green, leafy material in it...
Anyway, I got home safely with my new supply of turf, and I've been finishing the scenery around the turntable and roundhouse. No weekend photos for me this week, though. I get a lot of layout time this week, because my wife's off for a "girls week" in Michigan, but the tradeoff is that she took the camera.
Morning all, Joe, I need a cup of your coffee and one of those donuts you got for Mr. B, It looks pretty good.
No work for me today, another 2'' of rain during the night. I am now flooded in and can't get to work. Does anyone feel sorry for me?
Mr. B I have thought of the same thing only when I would have some in a baggie that I have taken off the layout to change things around. I am sure they would know the difference when they look very close.
You all take care I am going to do some more in the new train room today being that I cannot get to work, What a shame. Mike
Howdy, everybody. Coffee and a ham on rye, please, Joe.
Mike, I sure wish you folks could figure a way to send us all that surplus water. The level in Lake Mead is falling like a bathtub with the plug pulled, and you folks are getting washed away. Somebody UP THERE seems to have his targets crossed up!
Well, I thought I was just about finished aligning and grading the plywood subgrade for the next surge of tracklaying when the Dessication Devil spring another one. Instead of:
I now have something that resembles a disjointed roller coaster! 'Umps and 'ollers, like a poor job with a road grader, where the stresses in the cookie-cut plywood relieved themselves (pun deliberate!)
Fortunately, the cure is right at hand - lengths of HEAVY steel angle iron, which will be bracketed to the risers and then screwed to the underside of the roadbed (with appropriate shims for the vertical curve.) I recall mentioning that I beat my plywood subgrade into submission with lengths of angle iron; well, I wasn't kidding!
To answer the obvious question - why did I say I had, "graded," my plywood subgrade? Maybe it's because the only thing anywhere near level in the whole project is the summit of that vertical curve.
And on that note, I'll run for cover!
Mike,
We understand the flooding. Nothing made me happier than when my Dad sold his place. He would go south for the winter and leave us to tend the fort. We were pretty good with the sand bag brigade. Needless to say, when I bought property, I bought on a hill.
One of the helpless feelings about flooding is when you have to wait for the water to go down to leave the house. Are all of your vehicles on high ground? We had a row boat at the barn that we would float to the house when the water came up. Nothing looks funnier than a boat tied to the screen door. Patience. Patience. Summer should get here one of these days.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
Well, the high water doesn't bother me to much. The creek in front of the house floods from time to time but has never been close to the house or the viehicles. My house is built in the side of a hill so in the last 100 years or so, the creek has stayed where it belongs and when it does flood, I simple stay home and relax knowing that no one will come and bother me.
The creek has gone down below the crossing for now, It has starter to rain again. Mike
David Parks I am the terror that flaps in the night!
Enjoy it. Maybe some layout time.
I got rest alright! I flopped into bed at about 4 pm yesterday and got up at 6:30 this morning and still felt tired. I went to Alexandria today to raid the lot so local LHS and Hobby Lobby. At the LHS I picked up a Proto 2000 FA1-FB1 set, a wayside warehouse with steam whistle (I want the whistle for my industrial area. The warehouse can go wherever) and two bags of medium gray ballast. At Hobby Lobby I got a water tower with a flashing light and an American Foundry Company structure.
Here's pics of what I got.
The Proto 2000 FA1-FB1 set.
The water tower with flashing light.
The American Foundry Company.
The Wayside warehouse with steam whistle.
The two bags of medium gray ballast.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Good Friday to you all. Joe set up rounds for the house and give me the bill.
Another day off because of flood water. today I got up at 6 am as usuall and looked at the creek and man was it ever flowing, all the way up in my yard, but it never got close to the house. I simply called in flooded in again. My boss just laughed, I sent some pics to some of my friends so they could see I am not telling a big one. I will probley catch it if I get to go in on Monday LOL, The creek is still way beyong being passible. Probley won't get out tonight. I did get out yesterday long enough to get me some supplies. (BEER)
These days off are really good on the new train room although I am not sure how I am going to pay for it. Anyone want to help? LOL Well I best get back to the dry wall in the train room. Mike
Thanks, Mike. I'll have one on you.
Your situation reminds me of why I left Tennessee for the dessicated desert. I used to live well up a steep little valley, so the (frequent) rain all ran off before it could build up. Of course, it all collected at the bottom of the hill, where our intermittent stream met the main creek. I recall deflecting the boss's wrath (about calling in flooded) with a photo of the stop sign at the T-intersection - water right up to the verticals on the octagonal sign. (Polaroid photo, pre-digital.)
Well, the angle iron did what it was designed to. Got it all cut (boy, do I need a better hack saw!) and clamped into place before the layout room got too hot to work in, and the plywood flattened right out. Tomorrow I'll get it anchored, and then I can move on to caulking down the foam roadbed (fan-fold underlayment.) Once all the new track is in place I'll have more than doubled the present length of possible run.
Right now, my operations are in the same place that John Armstrong was in half a century ago - take a train out of the yard, back it to the end of track, run it to the other end of the main, then back it to the yard and classify or park it. (The train at the end of track right now consists of a locomotive and the wedge plow. Not much classifying involved in that one..)
My in-house gourmet cook has just announced dinner, so I have to go. See you later.
I'll have a STRONG one today Joe...And a round for the house too.
Mike: Hope that all is somewhat back to normal and that you haven't been washed away!
Chuck: Glad to hear the the angle irons did te trick for you! I've got one area where my wood moves...It can be very trying!
As for news here: I got into the lower garden the other day (there is an area, a pretty steep hill-side between the grapes and the potatoes) with the weed whip and unknowingly got into Poison Ivy or Poison Oak...Poison something and have the stuff from head to toe.
In my 55 years, I have never had it...I guess the immune system had it's toll, because I've got it really bad!
In a nutshell, I am miserable and still have to sing and dance tonight....Showboat opens in less than two weeks and I need the work dances!
Therefore the need for the strong one...Maybe more than one!
Latter
Howdy, Joe. Ham and Swiss on rye, please. And a Heinekin's to wash it down.
JB, I feel your pain. Brings to mind the time when I was your age and "discovered" poison sumac. No fun!
Just spent about ten minutes in the layout space, removing clamps and otherwise checking on some fresh caulk work. With the temperature kissing three digits, caulk starts to set up almost as soon as it comes out of the tube. Working time is measured in seconds, and three hours sees it set up forevermore.
Coming up on fireworks time here. North Las Vegas stages the city fireworks display on July 3 to keep from conflicting with the big casinos along the Strip. Tonight and tomorrow, right up to midnight, it will sound like the Revolutionary War is being fought right in the neighborhood. Then, if anybody lights ONE firework after The Witching Hour, it will be (officially) July fifth, and they'll become proud owners of a misdemeanor citation!
Well, the Boss wants to go shopping, so I'd best be driftin' along.